Reader Jocelyn Conway Malone was strolling by the GAP the other day and noticed the difference between their back-to-school clothes marketing to girls and for boys. Feel free to tell the company how you feel about skinny jewel-box girls versus “active stretch””made-to-move” boys at the following address: custserv@gap.com (subject line: marketing & advertising) Girls: Boys:
So, while we’re on the topic of how the Disney Princesses–the brand that parents go to to stave off premature sexualization of their innocent girls–are changing, let’s take a look at Belle. Recall that the message of “Beauty and the Beast” is that true beauty comes from within (though you could also argue it teaches that if you hang out with an abusive guy long enough he turns into a prince…). Now let’s look at how Belle has changed since her debut in 1991. Here she is in the movie, just a girl and her book, singing, as one does: Here she is, also in the movie, in her iconic yellow gown, the one that has made countless preschool girls rip the necks of their t-shirts because “princesses don’t show their shoulders” (people tell me that all the time): Now here is the BRAND NEW BELLE circa 2012 from [...]
I’ve been writing and talking about how the princess culture morphs into the diva culture as girls get older, but the transformation works both ways. Over time, the Disney Princesses not only have become more focused on cosmetics than character, but their actual faces are increasingly influenced by pop culture divas. Take Cinderella. Here is what she looked like in 1950, in the original Disney film.: This is as a servant girl (a part of her character that has disappeared ENTIRELY, but which is the basis for her strength of character and the real reason we’re supposed to root for her…) And at the ball: Among the interesting things to note: her hair is not that blonde and her face is sort of regular-looking. Here she is in the post-2001 official Disney Princess era: blonder, blander, coyer, flirtier, more like a parody of the princess perhaps? Note how different [...]
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